How poverty affects the brain

Poverty Makes Wrong Decisions

Poor people take poor jobs, use money unwisely, do not set goals for themselves, or do not strive for them. And this is directly related to the brain.

Lack of money is not the main problem of poor people. First of all, it's about making the wrong decisions.

The prefrontal cortex is responsible for solving problems, setting goals, and completing tasks. This is the part of the brain located in front, just behind the frontal bone.

The prefrontal cortex is connected to the limbic system, which controls emotions and stores long-term memory.

A growing body of research suggests that when a person lives in poverty, the limbic system constantly sends stress signals to the prefrontal cortex, overloading it, and reducing the ability to solve problems, set goals, and complete tasks.

Poor people are stressed all the time. They are forced to make ends meet and fight against public scorn. This keeps them in constant tension. Since the brain transfers its resources to experiences and fears, they are not left for something else.

How to get out of the cycle of bad decisions

Despite the strong relationship between persistent stress and the performance of the prefrontal cortex, even an adult growing up in poverty can change their way of thinking and reduce the amount of stress.

The United States has a special Economic Mobility Pathways (EMP) program that helps low-income families get out of poverty. At EMP, they fight the root causes of poverty: fear, lack of control over their lives, feelings of hopelessness.

Poor people get stuck in a vicious circle: stress leads to bad decisions, which in turn leads to more stress and a persistent belief that a person cannot fix anything in his life.

It is necessary to create a positive repetitive cycle in which a person takes a step, achieves what he could not even dream of, and improves his opinion of himself.

Elisabeth Babcock President and CEO of EMP

One small step can help you make money or just give you a sense of control over your life. Each small victory reduces stress and relieves the brain, freeing it up for clearer thinking.

Many people who participated in the EMP have gone all the way from poverty to a salary that can support a family with dignity. They not only found work, they reached a state of mind in which they could provide for themselves and their children.

How to prevent the transmission of poverty from generation to generation

Poverty suppresses a sense of control over their lives, especially for children who are hostage to circumstances and cannot do anything about the fact that their family lives in poverty. Children get used to thinking that the situation is hopeless, they are unhappy, but they cannot change it. Working together on oneself helps to change this poisonous belief.

In the EMP project, parents are taught to maintain the stability and well-being of the family, manage finances and careers. But working with children is equally important. They are taught to take care of their health, develop socially and emotionally, manage themselves, prepare for independence, and strive for educational progress.

Children growing up in poverty need to be dealt with in the same way as their parents.

Al Race Deputy Director of the Child Development Center at Harvard University

Stephanie Brueck, lead project coordinator, worked with single mom Ginell and her five children. The youngest child, 5-year-old Sayers, needed surgery, but it could be delayed with certain exercises. The doctor gave them a huge list of exercises, but the boy has not yet been able to do everything.

Working with this family, Brooke set personal goals for Cyers to complete all the exercises and for his mother to help the boy get to the repetitions he needed. Brooke developed a fitness plan where Sayers would start with 5 push-ups and gradually work up to the 25 indicated by the doctor.

This helped the family to shake off the sense of the impracticability of the task. Later, Ginell wondered how she herself had not thought of breaking a complex task into smaller and more accessible steps.

This plan can be applied to any achievement. You achieve one small goal, gain more confidence, and take the next step.